In anticipation of the upcoming motion picture, Shout Factory has released the first season of the animated series, The Adventures of Tintin, which originally aired on HBO between 1991 and 1992. A co-production of the French Ellipse Programme and the Canadian animation studio Nelvana, this version of Tintin is considered to be the most faithful to Hergé’s vision. The traditional, barebones animation style is similar to that of Hergé. The episodes follow the original stories almost to the letter with some modifications to tone down the violence and use of alcohol.
For those not familiar with Tintin, he is a young Belgian reporter. Aided by his faithful fox terrier snowy, Tintin’s nose for a good story takes him all over the world and even to the moon. The young man and his dog must face an assortment of unsavory characters—drug smugglers, slavers, spies, and gangsters. Luckily for Tintin and Snowy, they have the help of an assortment of colorful characters including Captain Archibald Haddock, Professor Cuthbert Calculus, and the bumbling Scotland Yard detectives, Thomson and Thompson.
Shout Factory’s 2-disc set contains all 13 episodes from the first season of “The Adventures of Tintin.” The episodes included are:
Disc 1
“The Crab with the Golden Claws Parts 1 & 2” – A slip of paper torn off a tin can leads Tintin to a mysterious murder and an international smuggling operation.
“The Secret of the Unicorn Parts 1 & 2” – Tintin and his new found friend Capt. Haddock investigate the mystery of the Unicorn, a 17th century warship captained by one of Haddock’s ancestors.
“Red Rackham’s Treasure” – Tintin and company pursue the Unicorn wreckage and the treasure it must hold.
“Cigars of the Pharaoh Parts 1 & 2” – Tintin uncovers another drug ring and sets off for the deserts of Egypt and the far corners of India.
Disc 2
“The Blue Lotus Parts 1 & 2” – Tintin’s investigations into the opium smugglers leads him to the streets of Shanghai.
“The Black Island Parts 1 & 2” – A plane crash in the Belgian countryside finds Tintin in England and a strange island off the coast of Scotland that is inhabited by a beast of legend.
“The Calculus Affair Parts 1 & 2” – Tintin and Capt. Haddock accompany Prof. Calculus to a summit in Switzerland when they learn secret agents are after one of his inventions.
The Adventures of Tintin: Season One is presented in its original fullscreen aspect ratio. While the image looks fairly decent most of the time, things are occasionally soft, with specks of dirt evident here and there.
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound is good though not energetic. Score and dialogue come in crisp and clear.
There are no special features.
